


when Halloween ends

by Labyrinthinee



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: A little bit of angst, A little bit of fluff, Coming Out, F/M, First Kiss, Halloween Costumes, M/M, and their families - Freeform, halloween is a holiday for ghosts, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27314296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Labyrinthinee/pseuds/Labyrinthinee
Summary: "Three ghosts and two ghostbusters" sounds like the perfect costume idea for Halloween. At least Carlos thinks so. Now, he has to convince said three ghosts.Turns out, it's not that easy to get real ghosts to play pretend ghosts. Some even have unfinished business including ghostbusters.
Relationships: Alex & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 22
Kudos: 288





	when Halloween ends

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween everybody!!
> 
> This is something that I wrote in one go, completely not proof-read, so please excuse any mistakes!  
> The title is a nod to this wonderful song "Halloween" by Walker Hayes which I listened to on repeat while writing this!
> 
> I hope you like it and enjoy Halloween with our favorite found family ;)
> 
> Have fun reading and feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> Bea x.

# when Halloween ends

  


  


_Maybe I guess what I'm trying to say is I love you  
For being somebody I'm not ashamed to introduce my skeletons to_

  


  


It all starts when Carlos crashes into the middle of their rehearsal. He’s not even fazed by the ghosts around him anymore, just waves at them before turning to his sister.

  


“You have got to see this!” He waves his phone in front of Julie’s face.

  


Julie sighs. “How often have we told you not to disturb us when we’re rehearsing?”

  


“Not enough, obviously,” says Luke, setting down his guitar.

  


Carlos can’t hear him anymore, instead he starts scrolling through his phone.

  


“But, this is awesome!” Finally, he seems to have found what he was looking for, because a triumphant smile spreads on his lips.

  


Reggie is coming closer now, curiously looking over her little brother’s shoulder.

  


“Look,” Carlos points at his phone, “I found this on TikTok! Wouldn’t that be like, fun… for Halloween? So we can all go Trick or Treating together! You remember, you promised Dad to take me.”

  


“I remember,” Julie says a little absentmindedly. She’s too busy staring at the phone screen.

  


It shows two guys, throwing on white sheets, putting on sunglasses and doing normal things, taking pictures in every day situation. It’s fun, the video well done.

  


“I love Halloween.”

  


Luke is stepping up behind her.

  


“I don’t,” says Alex, “Not a big fan of anything spooky.”

  


“You’re a ghost,” deadpans Reggie, “Some might call _you_ spooky.”

  


Julie snorts a little and Carlos eyes are carefully darting around the room.

  


“Do they like the idea?”, he asks eagerly.

  


Julie frowns. “This isn’t for us?”

  


“What, no?! It’s for the guys!”

  


Reggie squints at the screen. “For us?”

  


“Awesome!” Luke claps his hands, grinning from ear to ear.

  


Alex doesn’t seem completely convinced, though. He rolls his eyes. “We’ll look ridiculous.”

  


“No, we won’t. We’ll look like real ghosts.” Reggie winks at Carlos who can’t see or hear him but would definitely laugh at the joke.

  


“And what are we now?”

  


“Musician spirits as you so nicely put it.”

  


Alex huffs, crossing his arms. “Whatever.”

  


“…and they can go with us! You and I will be ghostbusters!” The excitement is audible in Carlos’ voice.

  


The drum sticks fall out of Alex’s hand, landing on the floor loudly. His fingers are shaking when he picks them up.

  


“You okay, dude?” Luke asks.

  


Alex looks pale. Julie is surprised that ghosts can even look pale but the drummer definitely does.

  


“Don’t they like it?”

  


Carlos sounds hurt and Julie gives Alex one last look before turning to her little brother. “Luke loves the idea!”

  


“And Reggie?”

  


Through endless games of Mario Kart her brother had developed a friendship with the bassist, going as far as talking to him every night before going to bed. Reggie says he doesn’t mind. Carlos reminds him of himself and his little brother when they were younger. That is all Julie knows about his family situation. He’s not very forthcoming with information on them and she didn’t want to pry.

  


“Reggie likes it, too,” she says after the bassist has given her the go ahead.

  


It’s cute, the way Carlos’ grin widens.

  


They all turn to Alex who’s gone completely quiet. His hands are shaking as he gets up, puts them in the pockets of his jacket. “I’m out,” he says with a trembling voice.

  


He poofs out of the studio before any of them can get a word out.

  


Julie frowns, looking from Reggie to Luke questioningly. They both shrug, looking as confused as her.

  


“Can we start doing the costumes now?” Carlos’ eyes are shining brightly. “Or do you need to rehearse more?”

  


The question comes a little belated but Julie shakes her head. “No, it’s fine. Let’s find some sheets to cut up!”

  


“We’ll try to find Alex,” says Luke as she’s about to follow Carlos to the house.

  


Julie nods. “Be careful, okay?”

  


Even though they haven’t seen or heard from Caleb the past month, she still doesn’t like it when they roam the city. Reggie grins, while Luke nods earnestly, giving her a smile and biting his lip before they both poof out.

  


Julie hurries to catch up with her little brother.

  


  


  


Reggie and Luke show up two hours later as Carlos is just gluing together some parts for his costume’s Proton Pack. It’s looking pretty awesome already and Julie can already feel her excitement about the upcoming holiday growing.

  


Halloween had always been one of her favorite holidays. She loves getting dressed up, watching scary movies and the sugar rush would last for days. Making their own costumes had been always been a given. When Carlos and her were younger they’d even get group costumes for the entire family.

  


She drops the scissors when they poof in, looking for Alex but they obviously haven’t found him. Or if they did, couldn’t convince him to come home.

  


“This looks awesome!” Reggie immediately hurries over to Carlos, examining the Proton Pack while Luke stands next to Julie.

  


“Did you find him?” She asks quietly while she watches carefully as Reggie picks up the hot glue gun and helps Carlos with his costume.

  


“No, we’ve looked everywhere. Even went to his parents’ old house, but, nothing. I don’t know… I don’t even know why he disappeared. Sure, he’s not big on Halloween, but this?” Luke shrugs.

  


Julie sighs. She doesn’t really know what to say, so she picks up on of the sheets that they have prepared for the boys. “Try this one?”

  


He takes it, throwing it over his head.

  


Carlos looks up from his work as Luke starts to turn, throwing his hands out.

  


“How do I look?”

  


“Like a real ghost, dude!”, exclaims Reggie.

  


Julie laughs, while Carlos bounces excitedly up and down on his feet. “This’ll be the best Halloween ever!”

  


“Where’s mine?”

  


Reggie nearly scrambles over the table to get his own sheet, throwing it over his head. Carlos claps gleefully and they start chasing each other around the kitchen, before disappearing into the living room.

  


“You still need those,” says Julie then, quietly. She picks up the black sunglasses from the table.

  


Luke is watching her intensely as she steps up to him. They have barely had any time alone with their constant band rehearsals and Julie’s school work. Carefully she slides them on his face.

  


“Thanks.”

  


His voice is a little off and she’d love to see his face right now. Her own heart is beating a little bit faster, speeding up as Luke’s hand moves through the bedsheet towards her own.

  


He tries to take it, failing like they all did ever since the night from their Orpheum performance. It’s frustrating.

  


“Julie! Save me!” Carlos makes them jump apart, sliding into the room and hurrying to hide behind his sister.

  


Reggie is making the weirdest ghost noises as he rushes into the kitchen, the white cloth blowing up behind him. He starts to make his way towards Julie and Carlos, when he stops dead in his track.

  


“What the hell is going on here?”

  


Ray Molina is standing in the back door, staring from the mess on the kitchen island to the two bedsheets that are seemingly flying through his kitchen.

  


“We’re making Halloween costumes! Look!” Carlos quickly picks up his nearly finished Proton Pack while Julie tries to come up with a logical explanation for the ghosts in the room.

  


Her dad gives Carlos the needed attention but she sees his eyes darting towards the sheets more than once.

  


“And what is this?”, comes the loaded question as soon as Carlos needs to pause in his detailed work-steps-description.

  


“Uh, well… Dad, these are…”

  


“These are Luke and Reggie,” Carlos interrupts her and Julie is about to faint. “But don’t try talking to them. They are completely in character, just like real ghosts! It’s awesome!”

  


Luke snorts.

  


Julie watches her dad carefully, trying to make out if he’s buying Carlos’ explanation.

  


“Ghosts?”

  


Obviously not.

  


Carlos nods. “Yeah, and Julie and me will be the ghostbusters, keeping them in check and all that! The overalls we ordered should come tomorrow.”

  


“You ordered overalls?” He turns to his son. “With what?”

  


“Your credit card.” Carlos looks at his dad, as if that was the obvious answer and Julie has to give him some credit. He’s clever.

  


Her dad is speechless. “How …?”

  


Carlos grins, taking his dad’s arm and leading him towards the living room. “Remember that time you asked me to buy Julie’s birthday present last year?”

  


Their voices fade away and Julie can breathe again.

  


“That was close.” Luke takes off the sunglasses and the sheet, folding it before placing it on the counter. Reggie throws his own on top.

  


Julie is afraid that it won’t be that easy. Her dad can be persistent when he needs to be. “He’ll ask more questions later.”

  


“Just tell him we ghosted you.”

  


Julie rolls her eyes, doesn’t answer and continues with her own Proton Pack.

  


“Didn’t I use it correctly?”, mumbles Reggie, clearly confused.

  


Luke shrugs, before stepping up to her. “You’ll think of something.” Her hands still. “We’ll check the studio. Maybe Alex has turned up.”

  


They lock eyes for a moment. Luke bites his lip, making hers drop. She finds herself nodding, allowing them to poof out.

  


Just in time, as her dad comes back into the kitchen. His eyes dart across the room, obviously looking for the two ghosts.

  


“Now, mi hija, the truth, please?” He crosses his arms, trying to look stern.

  


Julie beckons him with her finger, waiting until he’s close enough. “It was Nick and Flynn,” she whispers, “but don’t tell Carlos. Can you believe he thinks it’s really Luke and Reggie? Like holograms could do that, right?”

  


She feels bad throwing her brother under the bus like that. Praying, she waits until her dad sighs.

  


“And I thought…”

  


“Yeah?”

  


“Oh, nothing,” he waves it off, laughing, “it was ridiculous. Anyway, are you guys going to clean up before dinner?”

  


  


  


Julie is about to get into to bed that night when Alex poofs into her room. Unannounced. He’d never done that before and it freaks her out a little bit. What freaks her out even more is the fact that he’s obviously been crying. He sinks to the ground, burying his face in his hands.

  


Hurriedly she gets off her bed, kneels before him, wanting nothing more than to be able to touch him, hug him, make him somehow feel better.

  


“Alex?” She whispers instead.

  


After a long moment he looks up.

  


“Do you want to talk to me?”

  


He shakes his head, staring at his hands. She decides to wait for him to talk, settling down on the ground next to him, leaning against the dresser and looking at the wall opposite of them.

  


“It’s about Willie…”

  


His voice is hoarse when he speaks and Julie doesn’t pry even though she is bursting with curiosity. She doesn’t know a lot about Willie. He’s a ghost, she knows that much, a friendly one, too. Even helped them with booking the gig at the Orpheum but that’s about it.

  


“He… disappeared.”

  


“Oh,” Julie breathes out. “You think he has crossed over?”

  


Alex hangs his head. “No.”

  


She frowns, not sure how to continue. While she’s searching for words, Alex picks up one of the pillows from her bed, playing with the tassel.

  


“He… Caleb, his soul belonged to Caleb and by helping us, he… well, I don’t know.”

  


“Oh, Alex!” She can’t keep the sadness from her voice. Her heart sinks.

  


The blond seems to be on a roll now, though, because he ignores her, instead starts telling her the whole story. “We met on Sunset Boulevard, he crashed right into me with his stupid skateboard… I guess, I was distracted by those damn ghostbusters but whatever, he ran me over, took me down completely and well, I fell. We met a few more times after that, before the whole Bobby disaster. Willie was the one introducing us to Caleb and… he knew what those stamps did to us, but Caleb owned his soul and there was nothing he could do.”

  


The words are rushing out of Alex and Julie realizes three things as he talks. First, Willie is obviously more than just a friend to Alex. Second, Caleb is so much more powerful than the boys had told her till now. This whole owning souls ability has never been discussed. Third, the ghostbusters mention must’ve brought up some memories.

  


“He helped you, though,” she tries to cheer him up.

  


“And gotten himself in trouble doing it.” Alex rubs his eyes, his breathing still ragged.

  


Julie yearns to touch him, give him some much-needed comfort. “He tried to help you cross over? With the Orpheum gig?”

  


“Yeah, he was awesome.” There’s a small smile on Alex’ lips.

  


“You like him, huh?” Julie winks and enjoys the fact, that a little bit of color seems to creep into Alex’ cheeks.

  


He starts stammering and Julie can feel the laughter bubbling up inside of her. She tries to hold it in, but when Alex seems to get even more flustered, she can’t help herself.

  


He stares at her, disbelieving and Julie quickly says, “He sounds like an awesome guy!”

  


“Yeah, a _guy_.” Alex frowns, the color not yet gone from his cheeks.

  


“And?” Now Julie quiets down. “Did you think I would mind?”

  


“My old family did.”

  


“Oh.” It’s a statement of disbelief and hurt, that ‘oh’. Then she throws her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

  


For a short moment he seems overwhelmed. He returns the hug quickly, though, burying his face in Julie’s hair and she’s gently stroking his back while sobs are wrecking his body. Whispering affirmations, she tightens her hold, making sure that Alex knows she’s there and always will be.

  


“I’m sorry,” Alex apologizes when they finally part.

  


Julie immediately shakes her head. “Don’t apologize for who you are. Never do that!”

  


A small smile plays around Alex’ lips, then he stares at their hands resting next to each other on the ground. “We hugged,” he breathes out.

  


“We hugged.” Julie repeats, completely incredulous. She leans forward again, moving to hug him, yet touching nothing but thin air. “Oh, come on!”

  


“It was a nice hug,” Alex tries to comfort her and Julie sighs.

  


“I guess, it was.”

  


“I’m sorry, I disappeared this afternoon. But thinking about Willie, it hurts.”

  


Julie waves it off. “It’s okay, but we were worried. We care about you, Alex. All of us.”

  


“I know.”

  


“You never saw him again?” She asks, just for clarification.

  


The sadness is back in his eyes as he shakes his head.

  


“I’m sorry, Alex.”

  


They are quiet for a while, each of their heads filled with thoughts about ghost rules and questions about the afterlife. There’s still so much they obviously haven’t figured out, yet.

  


“Can I join you for Halloween?” Alex’ voice is timid.

  


“Of course,” Julie exclaims, “Carlos will be thrilled!”

  


“Yeah?”

  


“Sure, he’ll be so happy to have the whole band with him!”

  


Alex smiles at that, before sighing, “You should sleep, right? School tomorrow?”

  


Julie waves it off. “If you want to talk some more…”

  


“No,” he shakes his head.

  


“But you can stay here if you’d like.” She offers him, getting up from the ground and sitting down on the bed, she watches him contemplate it.

  


“I’ll let the guys know I’m back first.”

  


Julie nods, getting under the covers as he poofs out. She quickly picks up the pad from her night stand.

  


_You’re the quiet kind  
A fight behind your mind  
No pushing back because  
You just want to pause_

  


Jotting down the lyrics, she smiles. There’s already a melody ghosting through her head. She can’t wait to show it to Luke. With Alex’s permission, of course. It’d be his song after all.

  


He shows up again five minutes later, lying down next to her and Julie turns off the lights, glad that she could give him some peace of mind.

  


  


  


They look amazing. Carlos has completely outdone himself with their Proton Packs and their dad is taking a million pictures.

  


The boys are waiting at the garage. They decided together that showing up at the house would raise even more suspicious with Ray and Julie doesn’t want to push it.

  


It’s dusky as they head down the streets. Julie and Carlos in the middle, Reggie next to Carlos and Luke and Alex on her side. There’s a guitar slung over Luke’s back, a beanie on his head. Alex has his snap back on, his fanny back over his shoulder and Reggie’s red and black flannel shirt is tied around his hips. They should look ridiculous but Julie has to admit that they somehow pull it off.

  


Carlos is almost floating above the ground as well, bouncing with pride and telling every one they meet, that he’s hanging out with ghosts. It earns him a few giggles and a few eye-rolls but Julie can’t help the smile while the boys are bickering over who looks the coolest.

  


They are close to her school when a werewolf catches her attention. She had seen it before, at their street, two houses over. Frowning, she stares at it, trying to figure out who it could be. Whoever it is, isn’t with a group and not actively trick or treating. They seem to just stand around, looking left and right and every now and again towards their group.

  


Carlos is thanking whoever just opened their door for them, for the candy and they are starting to make their way into the direction of the werewolf. Julie feels like it’s watching them.

  


“Hey, see that werewolf?” She asks Luke quietly.

  


He hums, waiting for her to continue.

  


“I think it’s following us?”

  


A laugh comes from under the bedsheet. “Are you getting spooked, Molina?” He asks, giving his voice a hoarse edge.

  


She rolls her eyes. “Forget it!”

  


Ignoring his protest, she catches up with Alex, striking up a conversation with the drummer.

  


They reach the school's lacrosse field. The entire field is swarmed with pupils like every year. It’s a great spot to meet up and party. Julie knows she can’t stay too long because of Carlos but she promised she’d show up for a little while. Especially because Flynn is once again the party’s DJ.

  


“This is amazing,” breathes Luke out excitedly.

  


“It’s basically a school dance,” reminds him Julie with a little attitude in her voice.

  


He steps up to her, the bedsheet brushing against her back. His voice is right next to her ear, when he whispers, “I’m sorry, Jules.”

  


She feels her heart flutter for a moment, but it stutters when the werewolf shows up in her periphery. Again.

  


“There he is again,” she tells Luke urgently.

  


“Who?” He seems a little taken aback.

  


“The werewolf.”

  


“Which werewolf?” Alex joins the conversation, following Julie’s nod. “Hey, he was a few houses over when we left.”

  


“Told you so.” Julie can’t help it.

  


Luke groans. “Fine, what do you want us to do? Maybe it’s that Nick guy. He obviously still has a crush on you.”

  


“No.” She shakes her head. “Nick’s going as a prince.” At Luke’s snicker, she snidely adds, “for his little sister.”

  


“So, it isn’t Nick. Maybe it’s a fan. We have gotten a lot of those streams on YouTube.” Alex shrugs, trying to sound nonchalant even though Julie is pretty sure, that they haven’t fully grasped the concept of streaming, yet.

  


“We could just ask him, you know?” Luke suggests then.

  


“Great idea! Let’s go towards the creepy werewolf. Can’t imagine that turning out bad.” Alex' voice wobbles at the end.

  


“You can hide behind me if you’re scared.” Julie can sense Luke rolling his eyes. With a nod he starts to make his way towards the werewolf, Julie watching them.

  


Reggie hurries after his bandmates belatedly, the bedsheet billowing, showing off his non-existent feet.

  


“People are loving our costumes!” Carlos waves at one of his friends.

  


Julie hums, too busy watching the scene that’s playing out in front of her. The boys have reached the werewolf, have circled him and suddenly Alex is hugging him tightly. Which would be weird by itself but add in the fact, that Alex is a ghost, there should be no way he could hug another person, unless…

  


Julie’s breath quickens. Could it be?

  


“Come on, Carlos,” she says, taking her brother’s hand and tugging him towards her band.

  


“You won’t believe it!”, exclaims Reggie as soon as they’ve reached them.

  


“Willie?”

  


“Yes!” Alex is brimming with excitement while Carlos is looking from one to the other, obviously confused.

  


“Oh my god, hi!” Julie waves to the werewolf. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

  


“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Willie’s voice is a little muffled from the mask but he sounds nice and Alex’s obvious broad smile would be enough to sell her on him.

  


Then, Flynn’s voice is booming over the lacrosse field, encouraging them to dance.

  


“I love that song!”, blurts out Reggie when the first beats of Thriller come through the boxes surrounding the field. Before any of them can react, he is flying quite literally towards the dance floor.

  


“You good here?” Julie asks Alex who nods, his eyes never leaving Willie. Her gaze falls on their intertwined hands and she can’t help the smile forming on her lips.

  


“Let’s go,” she tells Carlos then, following her little brother to the dance floor, Luke trailing behind them.

  


  


  


Their candy bags have filled up nicely, also due to the fact, that there were five of them, with only two actual eaters. Julie feels a little bad for Luke and Reggie when they empty the bags at home and the entire dining table is covered in sweets.

  


“Your dentist is going to write me a Christmas card,” groans her dad before quickly diving for the Reese bars. Thankfully they’ve left the bedsheets at the studio. “How did you get so much this year?”

  


“Um, hello! Coolest costume ever!” Carlos spins around once more.

  


His dad grins, obviously not convinced but not really bothered by it. “Okay, but even ghostbusters have to sleep eventually.”

  


“Not this one,” Carlos hoots loudly, running around the table, fazing through Reggie and Luke, before disappearing into the living room, trying to evade his bedtime. His dad is following at a more sedated pace.

  


Julie turns to the guys. “Anybody up for a scary movie?”

  


“Nope, I’m out. Scary movies are… scary.” Reggie poofs out before Julie can get another word in.

  


“Let’s go,” says Luke, biting his lip.

  


Julie’s heart beat picks up. Watching a movie, alone, with Luke. That almost sounds like a date.

  


“I’ll just change first. Ten minutes?”

  


He nods and she hurries to get ready. Quickly changing into her pj’s, throwing on her yellow sweater and taking off her make-up. Brushing her teeth, she can’t help the giddiness bubbling up inside of her.

  


When she enters her room, Luke is already there, sitting on her desk chair, his feet thrown up on the desk and her pad in his fingers. He drops it immediately when he sees her.

  


“I… sorry, couldn’t help myself. I worked a little bit on Alex’s song.”

  


Julie hums, picking up the pad from the floor and smiling when she sees the chords scribbled over her words. She sits down on her bed, humming the melody while Luke gives her notes every now and again.

  


“Sounds good, right?”

  


“I like the changes on the bridge. Gives it a little more depth.”

  


“Yeah, right?” He nods and then an awkward silence descends on them.

  


It’s weird. It has never been weird before.

  


Julie coughs. Suddenly her fingers are all clammy, and the giddiness has been pushed away by a strange nervousness.

  


“Should we start the movie?” Luke finally asks and Julie’s thankful.

  


“Yes, please!” She hurries to get her laptop started, settling into bed.

  


Luke sits down beside her. They look for a movie neither of them has seen before and finally settle on the original “Frankenstein” movie.

  


Julie is fully concentrating on the movie, trying to block out the fact, that if Luke were real, they’d be touching from her shoulder downwards and that her dad would probably throw a fit if he found them like this. But Luke’s not real, his shoulder fazing through Julie’s and she has Flynn countless arguments against a relationship with the ghost running in an infinity loop through her mind.

  


When Dr. Frankenstein finally confronts his monster, Julie doesn’t think anymore, just reaches for Luke’s hand and grabs it quickly.

  


The touch is warm. He squeezes her hand and Julie holds her breath. Turning her head, she finds his eyes already on her, his face barely a few inches away.

  


The movie is completely forgotten, when Luke slowly raises his free hand, touching Julie’s cheeks carefully. They both seem to expect it to faze through, but as they connect, Julie can’t stop the gasp.

  


“Jules,” Luke breathes out, his lips drawing her attention. His eyes are flitting over her face.

  


“Yeah?” She asks, afraid that her heart would jump out of her chest at any moment, the way it is drumming hard against her ribcage.

  


“How…?”

  


“I don’t know. I could touch Alex last week when he was really upset.”

  


“I’m not upset.”

  


“Me neither.”

  


Luke smiles. “Good, I’d be offended if you were, because I’m actually really good.”

  


“Me, too.”

  


“Good.”

  


He bites his lip again and Julie can’t help herself. The question is out before she can stop it. “Can you kiss me?”

  


Luke’s eyes grow big. “Sure, I mean,” his voice breaks, “uh, if you want me to.”

  


Julie nods quickly. Apparently, it’s all the encouragement he needs because then his lips are on hers. They are warm and soft and Julie is overwhelmed for a moment, then relaxes and sighs.

  


A smile is stretching on her lips and she can feel Luke’s doing the same. He draws back shortly, locking his eyes with her before kissing her a second time.

  


This time his lips are slightly parted, fitting more perfectly against Julie’s and her heartbeat stutters. His hand wanders from her cheek to her neck, drawing her closer.

  


“Julie!” Alex’s voice lets them both jump, Julie basically faceplants through Luke onto her bed, her face bright red when she turns towards the drummer. “Oh my god!” He shrieks then, pointing from Luke to Julie and back. “Oh my god!”

  


“Alex, ever heard of knocking?!” yells Luke because Julie seems to have swallowed her tongue.

  


Alex stares, then starts laughing.

  


Julie takes one of her pillows, hiding her face in it. Luke takes another on, throwing it at Alex. It lands on the drawer, almost knocking over the picture of Julie and her mum.

  


“Willie and I talked,” says Alex then, clasping his hands in front of him and the statement makes Julie look up.

  


“You did?”

  


“Yeah, he’ll stay away from L.A. for a little while longer, stay out of Caleb’s reach but… um… we’ll meet up tomorrow!”

  


“That’s awesome, dude!” says Luke, getting up to clap his friend’s shoulder.

  


“Mhm, but, I mean, I don’t know, we’re taking it slow.” He pointedly stares at Julie and Luke.

  


“Oh my god,” moans Julie back to hiding her face.

  


Alex snickers. “I have never seen you blush before,” he teases his friend and Julie is thankful that she’s obviously not the only one, even though she hasn’t been able to meet Luke’s eyes.

  


“Julie?” Her dad suddenly stands in the room and if Julie thought she was blushing before, it’s nothing compared to how hot her face feels now. Sure, her dad can’t see Luke or Alex but somehow, she feels like it’s written all over her face.

  


_Julie Molina just had her first kiss._

  


“You should get some sleep, mi hija,” is all he’s saying though. She nods and he smiles. “Carlos seemed to have a lot of fun tonight. Thanks for hanging out with him. I know it’s not the coolest thing to do for a teenage girl.”

  


“Of course, Dad. I had a fun time as well.”

  


“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it,” comments Alex drily, earning himself an elbow to the ribs. He groans, poofing out before a second one could follow.

  


“That’s great! Sleep tight then, honey.”

  


“You, too, Dad.” Julie waves, waits until he has closed the door behind himself before her eyes dart to Luke who’s awkwardly leaning against her desk.

  


“It’s late, you should probably really catch some sleep.”

  


Julie gets up from the bed. Her fingers are shaking as she tries to touch Luke, not being able to, though.

  


“We’ll figure it out,” he promises her.

  


She sighs.

  


“But it was a good kiss to remember.” He winks and Julie’s heart misses a beat.

  


Before she can answer, he poofs out and she falls back into bed.

  


Staring at the Proton Pack under her desk and the neatly folded sheets next to it, she can’t fight the grin forming on her lips. Definitely a Halloween worth remembering.

  


  


  


**_fin._ **


End file.
